


What Should Have Happened at Baelor

by cool_aunt_of_dragons



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, i dont even know, i mean it would lead to an alternate universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2019-04-20 08:07:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14256627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cool_aunt_of_dragons/pseuds/cool_aunt_of_dragons
Summary: So, as the title says, its just a little thing I wrote a while back about how things should have gone in the 1st GoT book. Where Ned gets the balls to tell Joffrey what he knows about his lineage.





	What Should Have Happened at Baelor

**Author's Note:**

> So my roommate told me to just post this, it's actually a project I did probably 2 or 3 years ago. It's my first time actually posting things, so if y'all actually want me to continue this, I guess I can? If I get enough people asking for it?

Eddard  
Before long, Eddard was being drug from the room he was being held in and walked, more like carried, to the High Septon’s pulpit, where he would “confess his crimes”. Eddard had received a change of clothes, as the ones he had been wearing had been long since soiled from squandering in a prison cell underneath King’s Landing. As the gold cloaks of the City Guard half guided, half carried him to the pulpit, he struggled to focus on anything but the pain of his shattered leg.  
Once they arrived at the pulpit, the Lord of Winterfell surveyed the grand keep. As he looked out, he saw the keep was filled with what seemed like every soul in King’s Landing. Closer to the pulpit itself, he saw many high lords, knights, and members of the king’s court, with Prince… no, not Prince, King Joffrey prominent among them. Joffrey stood surrounded by the small council, including his mother, Queen Regent Cersei, Lord Varys, Lord Petyr Baelish, and his Hound, Ser Clegane. In their midst he saw his eldest daughter, Sansa, whom, from what he knew, begged the Queen to spare him, let him take the black and live the remainder of his days serving on the Wall. Sansa is alright, gods be good, he thought, but where is Arya?  
He could entertain the thought no longer, for it was time for him to confess, no matter how false the confession. As Eddard began to speak, his voice was high and thin, the crowd began shouting for him speak up, so they all may here the confession. With a shaky breath, he began again, “I am Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Hand of the King, and I come before you to confess my treason in the sight of gods and men.”  
No sooner had he uttered the last words of that initial sentence, the crowd erupted into a storm of taunts and obscenities being screamed his way. Nevertheless, he had to finish what he came here to say, so he raised his voice, shouting now, straining to be heard above the crowd, “I betrayed the faith of my king and the trust of my friend Robert. I swore to defend and protect his children, yet before his blood was cold, I plotted to depose and murder his son and seize the throne for myself. Let the High Septon and Baelor the Beloved and the Seven bear witness to the truth of what I say: Joffrey Baratheon is the one true heir to the Iron Throne, and by the grace of all the gods, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm.”  
As he finished his full confession, the crowd roared louder than Ned ever thought imaginable. The crowd began throwing rocks, one sailing and meeting its mark on Eddard’s forehead. The blow disoriented him, and soon he felt hot blood running down the side of his face. Above the roar of the crowd, he heard the High Septon begin to speak to Joffrey, “This man has confessed his crimes in the sight of gods and men, here in this holy place. The gods are just, yet Blessed Baelor taught us that they are also merciful. What shall be done with this traitor, Your Grace?”  
King Joffrey sat contemplating for a moment. He then began, “My mother bids me let Lord Eddard take the black, and Lady Sansa has begged mercy for her father.” Ned dared not become hopeful of his chances of surviving, but there was a glimmer that was blossoming. Cersei suddenly leaned down to Joffrey and muttered something in his ear, causing the king to wear a look of immense panic. Suddenly, he bent down to Eddard’s level and quickly muttered into his ear, “Is Robert my father?”  
There was considerable panic in the king’s voice, and Eddard thought that this may be his chance to be completely honest with the boy, earning his trust, “No, Your Grace, the late king was not your father.” “Hold for a moment,” Cersei called after Ned and the brother of the Night’s Watch, “I wish to have a word with the good Lord Stark.” With a skeptical look, Yoren said, “I will be waiting outside the keep,” turning and leaving Ned with the Queen Reagent. “What is it I can do for you, Queen Reagent?” Ned asked. “What did you tell my son?” she asked, thinly veiled rage evident in her voice. Ned knew he had to tread carefully, for he didn’t doubt that Cersei would kill him there and then, “My lady, I merely answered the boy’s question. Nothing more.” Cersei’s anger flared and she grabbed Ned by the front of his shirt, “That is not what I meant, Lord Stark, I meant, what did you tell him?!” Ned looked up at her with eyes as cold as winter, but before he could respond, Joffrey could be heard screaming in the distance, “MOTHER, A WORD.” Cersei paled, fixed Ned with an icy stare, “I do hope you enjoy seeing your bastard at the blasted wall,”, she spat. Ned didn’t quite know how to respond to that, so he simply turned and went to Yoren, towards his new life. Joffrey’s panic intensified, and he sounded more a boy than ever, “Who is?”  
Eddard looked up at the Queen Regent, who gave him a puzzled look. Eddard stared right at the Queen Regent as he told Joffrey, “Your father is Ser Jamie Lannister, the Kingslayer, your lady mother’s twin brother.”  
Joffrey’s shock and panic was so evident, the crowd silenced instantly. Joffrey staggered back, completely disturbed by the information he was just told, then croaked meekly, “Get this man out of my sight.”  
The guards looked around with perplexity, “Your Grace, where should we take him?”  
Just as Joffrey was about to speak, a familiar voice spoke up from the crowd, “The Watch is always in need of good men, Your Grace.” It took Ned a moment, for he himself was reeling from everything that had just transpired. The realization then struck that it was Yoren, the man of the Night’s Watch that had once visited Winterfell.  
“He could do more good on the Wall than withering away in one of your cells,” Yoren called, “What say you, Your Grace?”  
Joffrey had paled from the news Eddard had just told him, and replied back with barely a whisper, “Do what you will with him. Send him to the frozen Wall. I care not anymore.”  
With that, Joffrey abruptly turned and left the keep, heading back inside, no doubt to confront his mother about this new information. The guards undid Eddard’s chains, and handed him over to Yoren, who would take him to his new life, on the Wall.  
A sudden realization struck the once Lord of Winterfell. He would finally see one of his sons again. He would finally tell his son, Jon, who his mother was, just as he told Joffrey who his father was.


End file.
